A short background to understand my question...
So my wife and I just bought our first house recently...we close escrow on March 28th. We have been renting a condo and our lease is up in July...the (previous) owners of the house we just purchased bought a house that was being built and wouldn't be done until June 28th. So in escrow we agreed on a 2-month rent back so as we don't pay a mortgage and a lease, and they didn't have to find a place to live until their place was built. Per CA, they could not rent back more than 2 months or the home would count as being purchased as an income property.
A few annoyances...they received mail with our names on it (pertinent stuff...mortgage documents from broker, new mortgage instructions from company that purchased the mortgage from broker, HOAs etc). (During escrow it was noted that all these documents were to be mailed to the current condo we are leasing and still living in). We never once heard a word from them about receiving any of ourmail...we were about to make our first payment and received a phone call from our new mortgage company days before we were about to send our check out to the broker. Along with this we agreed THEY would notify us 30 days before June 1st if they wanted to rent back from us for the month of June as a new 1-month lease would need to be arranged. On May 10th I finally decided to pick up the phone and ask about all of this...To which they expressed their wishes in wanting to rent back from us again and then mentioned, "Oh btw, I was going to call our agent to let you know that we've gotten some of your mail....". Yes small annoyances...but a BIG finance issue could have come about from this too.
Moving on...we are living in the condo still, they are living in our home...the washer/dryer that was in the home was included in the purchase of the property. They are "signing the new lease" by Monday for the month of June and will have a check for us then too. Well 3 days ago I receive a call from the husband letting me know the washing machine just broke...and also basically asking us if we are going to fix it or buy a new one because he had his handyman come out and look at it and said it would cost too much money to fix to be worthwhile.
So...yes I understand that fact that I am the landlord and they are the tenant and we are responsible for repairs to such items (my father is a real estate attorney and went over all paperwork as well). The husband also told me that we should have been told during escrow that the washer was 12 years old...but I never was informed of this. I know it's as easy as telling them we will not be fixing or replacing the washer and if they want to continue to rent from us next month that can, or I can cancel the new lease as it hasn't been signed by either parties....but I still am wondering about this conundrum. I would like them to pay for next month's mortgage...but it won't hurt us at all if they were to move out. I don't want to purchase a brand new washer/dryer if I'm not going to use it until we move in and they will use it for a month beforehand. But...HERE is my question that even slightly perplexed my father... We did not purchase the washing machine in the first place nor asked for it to be included in the sale of the house...so WHY should I HAVE to pay to fix or replace an appliance that I never purchased or owned in the first place?? Also, what would you all do in this situation?
Thanks for the help and long read guys!
So my wife and I just bought our first house recently...we close escrow on March 28th. We have been renting a condo and our lease is up in July...the (previous) owners of the house we just purchased bought a house that was being built and wouldn't be done until June 28th. So in escrow we agreed on a 2-month rent back so as we don't pay a mortgage and a lease, and they didn't have to find a place to live until their place was built. Per CA, they could not rent back more than 2 months or the home would count as being purchased as an income property.
A few annoyances...they received mail with our names on it (pertinent stuff...mortgage documents from broker, new mortgage instructions from company that purchased the mortgage from broker, HOAs etc). (During escrow it was noted that all these documents were to be mailed to the current condo we are leasing and still living in). We never once heard a word from them about receiving any of ourmail...we were about to make our first payment and received a phone call from our new mortgage company days before we were about to send our check out to the broker. Along with this we agreed THEY would notify us 30 days before June 1st if they wanted to rent back from us for the month of June as a new 1-month lease would need to be arranged. On May 10th I finally decided to pick up the phone and ask about all of this...To which they expressed their wishes in wanting to rent back from us again and then mentioned, "Oh btw, I was going to call our agent to let you know that we've gotten some of your mail....". Yes small annoyances...but a BIG finance issue could have come about from this too.
Moving on...we are living in the condo still, they are living in our home...the washer/dryer that was in the home was included in the purchase of the property. They are "signing the new lease" by Monday for the month of June and will have a check for us then too. Well 3 days ago I receive a call from the husband letting me know the washing machine just broke...and also basically asking us if we are going to fix it or buy a new one because he had his handyman come out and look at it and said it would cost too much money to fix to be worthwhile.
So...yes I understand that fact that I am the landlord and they are the tenant and we are responsible for repairs to such items (my father is a real estate attorney and went over all paperwork as well). The husband also told me that we should have been told during escrow that the washer was 12 years old...but I never was informed of this. I know it's as easy as telling them we will not be fixing or replacing the washer and if they want to continue to rent from us next month that can, or I can cancel the new lease as it hasn't been signed by either parties....but I still am wondering about this conundrum. I would like them to pay for next month's mortgage...but it won't hurt us at all if they were to move out. I don't want to purchase a brand new washer/dryer if I'm not going to use it until we move in and they will use it for a month beforehand. But...HERE is my question that even slightly perplexed my father... We did not purchase the washing machine in the first place nor asked for it to be included in the sale of the house...so WHY should I HAVE to pay to fix or replace an appliance that I never purchased or owned in the first place?? Also, what would you all do in this situation?
Thanks for the help and long read guys!
